{"id":13889,"date":"2022-05-12T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-11T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=13889"},"modified":"2022-05-16T11:54:30","modified_gmt":"2022-05-16T09:54:30","slug":"swim-stroke-masterclass-front-crawl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/220triathlon\/2022\/05\/12\/swim-stroke-masterclass-front-crawl\/","title":{"rendered":"Swim-stroke masterclass: Front crawl"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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THE MECHANICS OF FRONT CRAWL<\/h1>\n\n

Why is front crawl the chosen swim stroke of triathlon? And how can we swim it as efficiently as possible? Kicking off this open-water special, coach John Wood breaks things down to make you a faster triathlon swimmer\u2026 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Words <\/strong> John Wood Images <\/strong>@Daniel_James_Pix<\/p>\n\n

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Check out any pro field in a triathlon swim \u2013 or the pointy end of any age-group competition \u2013 and you\u2019ll quickly notice one thing: everyone is swimming front crawl. Now, we get asked about this a lot at 220, <\/em>and the answer\u2019s yes \u2013 if you\u2019re a newbie and want to swim breaststroke then there\u2019s nothing in the competition rules to say you can\u2019t (and you\u2019ll find plenty of other folk at the \u2018chilled\u2019 end of things doing the same). But, if you want to be competitive, you have to give front crawl a go. But why is that?<\/span><\/p>\n\n

In technical terms, front crawl (aka freestyle) creates more constant and efficient propulsion, while having the lowest levels of frontal resistance. Basically, it\u2019s faster.<\/p>\n\n

Swimming (and particularly freestyle) is inherently complex, with a lot of moving parts. But the best way to improve your stroke is to build it from the foundations up, so that\u2019s where we\u2019ll begin! <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

Breaststroke is potentially an easier stroke to breathe on, but it\u2019s also incredibly inefficient. In front crawl, the body stays level on the surface of the water so everything stays hidden behind your lead hand and your head, which means you punch a relatively small hole through the water.<\/p>\n\n

Front crawl also puts a lot less strain on the body, meaning you can do more of it to get fitter, stronger and faster. So how do we swim it efficiently? <\/p>\n\n

01 START WITH BODY POSITION<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n
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The biggest reason people struggle with swimming front crawl is their body position. If you feel massively out of breath or find your legs are kicking too hard and fast, then these could be symptoms of poor body position. The other thing we tend to see is a reliance on using a pull buoy \u2013 athletes swimming faster with a float between their legs than when they\u2019re kicking!<\/p>\n\n

All of this comes down to lacking a solid, strong body position, where your body is as horizontal as possible at all times rather than allowing your hips and legs to sink far below the surface.<\/p>\n\n

To improve this key element, swimmers may be encouraged to \u2018look down\u2019 while swimming, but this is only part of the solution. What we really need to do is include<\/span> \u2018posture\u2019 in our swim, i.e engage the core muscles.<\/p>\n\n

By lengthening your spine or standing as tall in the water as you can, and pulling your belly button inward, we can turn the body into a see-saw that pivots over the lungs. This way, when you drop your chin a little and look down, it brings your hips up toward the surface.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

By swimming tall and engaging the core\/trunk muscles, not only do we reduce our frontal resistance, but it also puts us in a better position to control the water with our arms and <\/em>helps us make swimming a full-body action, rather than just relying on the arms and shoulders.<\/p>\n\n

A favourite cue of mine is to streamline every time you push off the wall. This does two things: 1. You get used to moving at a faster speed and maintaining at least some of that speed every length;<\/span> 2.It<\/a> encourages you to lengthen your spine and reset your body position each time.<\/p>\n\n

When you push off the wall, have your arms pointing forward as far as your shoulders will allow. Not everyone has full range of motion around the shoulder, so it may be a case that your arms are a little lower than straight. This is okay, we work with what we can do. In a perfect world, you\u2019re able to squeeze your ears between your biceps. You don\u2019t need to hold this position for long, just one or two seconds before you start taking strokes.<\/p>\n\n

If you like using a pull buoy, try swapping the float in and out periodically so that you can try to mimic the position you\u2019re in when you don\u2019t have the float. Another drill you can try is to put the float further down between your legs rather than at your thighs \u2013 challenge yourself!<\/p>\n\n

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DRILL<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n